


Once Upon a Time

by SqueakiestMouse



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Daryl is a good big brother, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Sadie Dixon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-09 01:11:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8869921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SqueakiestMouse/pseuds/SqueakiestMouse
Summary: “Daryl, tell me a story.” Sadie's begs, her teddy bear clenched tightly in her skinny arm.There’s a pause and all they can hear is the sound of wind and wood being ripped apart.In the distance they hear an inhuman scream, “Boy!”Daryl swallows a sob and breathes deeply, holding onto his little sister’s hand like a lifeline.“Once upon a time…”





	

“Do you have to go?” Sadie held onto the thin material of her older brother’s shirt and tugged him back from the front porch.  
He spins and stares down at her before hunching down so that they are eye to eye.  
“I gotta go Sade, we gotta eat.”  
“I ate at school today.”  
Daryl frowns at his little sister, a beautiful angel with wheat blond curls and bright blue eyes, taking in her thin form and pale skin.  
“Well yer gonna have dinner tonight too.”  
Sadie whimpers and turns to look into their living room.  
Their pa lies passed out on the couch, holding a nearly empty bottle of southern comfort in the crook of his arm.  
“He’s asleep, he won’t wake up till we’re at school tomorrow.” He reassures his little sister, brushing a few curls away from her face.  
“Daryl I don’t like him, don’t leave me with him.”  
“Listen, I won’t be gone long. I got traps set up and I saw some deer tracks on my way home from school.”  
Sadie shakes her head and begs Daryl not to leave once more but he gently removes her hand from his clothes and pushes her towards her bedroom.  
“Go play with your dolls, when I get home I’ll read ya some more of that book ya got from the library.”  
“Promise?”  
Daryl chuckles, a sound saved only for his little sister, and ruffles her hair. “Cross mah heart.”  
Sadie grins and runs to her room the second her brother leaves the door. She spares a wary glance towards their pa, and when he grunts in his sleep she pushes her dresser in front of the door.  
Their pa was mean, meaner than any person should be to their children, and on most days too drunk to be coherent.  
Her oldest brother, Merle, usually threw himself in front of their pa when he was in one of his rages while Daryl steered her into the closet of the bedroom the three of them shared. They only had one bed, and most nights it was unused because Sadie always climbed next to one of her brothers after they fell asleep.  
She hated when pa got mad, it was scary, but more often than not she wasn’t the focus of his rage. He didn’t like looking at her, he simply ignored her, but once or twice he’d turn and hit her. Mostly to force one of her brother’s to obey him, or to prove they were worthless.  
But Sadie didn’t think they were worthless, they were her heroes.  
Merle had been gone for a while, and Sadie watched as Daryl took his place. He was left bloody and beaten more often than Merle had been simply because he didn’t fight back.  
Sadie didn’t know what pussy, fag or bitch meant but she didn’t like it when her pa yelled those words at Daryl. She especially didn’t like the look of shame that burned in Daryl’s eyes either.  
A loud clap of thunder startles Sadie and she runs to their window to look out at the clouds.  
Their dark and low in the sky, swelling to an almost unbelievable level.  
Sadie’s unsettled by the sight of them and whimpers quietly. She hated thunderstorms, usually Daryl would sit with her or Merle would distract her with games during them, but right now she was all alone.  
Then she heard her father moving around in the living room.  
“Boy! Ye better get yer sorry ass in here.”  
Stomping feet move close to their door and it shakes as he bangs on it with his fist over and over again.  
“Open the door ye piece of shit!”  
Sadie covers her ears and closes her eyes, rocking back and forth.  
There’s a loud bang and she jumps as the door and her dresser are shoved into the wall.  
“Where’s yer brother?” Her pa asks, advancing towards her trembling form.  
“H-hunting.”  
“The fuck ye stutterin’ for? Ya ain’t no retard. Stand up! When’s he gonna be back?”  
“I d-don’t know.”  
Her father’s hand rears back and slaps her across the cheek, sending her flying against the wall painfully.  
“I done told ye you ain’t stupid! I don’t want no one walkin’ ‘round here sayin’ Dixon’s are dumb cause ye ain’t got ‘nough sense not ta stutter.”  
“I’m sorry.” Sadie crys, holding the side of her face and curling up into a ball.  
Her pa snorts and then his eyes fly around the room before landing on the dollhouse Merle had made for her and the barbies Daryl spent the money he earned mowing lawns buying for her.  
He sneers and crushes the doll house into nothing but splinters.  
Sadie chokes back a sob as he grabs her by the hair and pushes her out of the bedroom.  
“Ye ain’t a baby no more, it’s bout time you learnt how ta be a woman.”  
“Let go of me!” She screeches, afraid he’s going to tear her hair out of her skull.  
She thinks he’s about to slam her head into the wall, but instead she hears the familiar sounds of her brother’s boots.  
She turns slightly just in time to see her brother swinging his crossbow around and into the side of their pa’s head.  
Pa falls and growls in rage, scrambling to grab hold of her brother.  
Before he can Daryl’s grabbed him by the shirt and slammed his fist into his pa’s face over and over again snarling at him.  
“Don’t you ever touch her again, ya hear me? Huh? I asked you a question you damned drunk piece o’ shit!”  
Their pa can’t speak, and Daryl has the suspicion he can’t breathe either, through the blood gurgling into his throat from his now mutilated face.  
Daryl slams their Pa’s head into the floor one last time and crawls over to Sadie. She flinches away from him when she sees his bloodied fists but he soothes her with a few words and she finds herself crawling into his lap and sobbing.  
He stands up and starts walking to the door, Sadie isn’t sure why, but before they’ve made it a few steps the shrill sound of the tornado siren in town resonates through their small cabin.  
“Shit.” Daryl sets her down and tells her to get her shoes while he runs into their pa’s room.  
When he returns she’s holding her stuffed bear and the book they were reading and Daryl has a wad of cash and a photo of their mother in his pocket. He grabs her hand and half drags her out the door and into the torrent winds of the storm.  
“Dary! What about pa?”  
“I’ll come back for him!” Daryl growls, dragging his little sister around the piles of junk in their front yard.  
They climb into the dank cellar, but one last look behind them shows that there won’t be anytime to save Pa, the tornado is tearing through the trees surrounding their cabin, which lies smack dab in the middle of it’s path.  
Daryl slams the metal door shut, grunting as he forces the bar into the lock just before the twister begins to tear into what was their kitchen.  
“Light the lamp Sadie.” Daryl’s voice is shaky, belaying his obvious fear, but he refuses to break down in front of Sadie.  
Sadie does as he tells her and then returns to his side, slipping her hand into his bloody one and hiding her face against her arm.  
“Daryl, tell me a story.” Sadie's begs, her teddy bear clenched tightly in her skinny arm.  
There’s a pause and all they can hear is the sound of wind and wood being ripped apart.  
In the distance they hear an inhuman scream, “Boy!”  
Daryl swallows a sob and breathes deeply, holding onto his little sister’s hand like a lifeline.  
“Once upon a time…”


End file.
